Is there a general purpose Java paint applet base?

Question

I'm working on a system for graphically querying data from a database of parasite specimens, in this case, these worm-like ones called Trematodes .

Specifically, I'm looking at how to do the front end. It needs to be web based, so I'm looking at using Java.

The way I envision it working is much like Mr. Potato Head . Users would select an outline of the body, and then drag and drop various pieces in, like testes, suckers, etc.

Does anyone know of a good starting point for this? Are there any general purpose applets out there I could build onto, rather than having to write this from scratch? Thanks.

**PS -- I'm not married to Java. If something like this exists in another form, I can probably work with that too. But I should point out I don't have access to any Flash dev tools.*

EDIT -- Based on the advice presented and skills I actually have at the moment, I've decided to go with a Javascript/Ajax type solution. Google's Web Toolkit looks cool, but I think jQuery probably suits my needs a little better, particularly regarding Drag And Drop functionality. Thanks again.

Answer 1

I would suggest trying Google Web Toolkit (GWT). You can create very sophisticated Java programs that run in the browser without a plugin.

http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

You can see some amazing examples here:

http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/examples/
http://www.smartclient.com/smartgwt/showcase/